I have always felt that if you surround yourself with things you created with your own hands, your life will be more enjoyable. At most, you need a chunk of wood, an axe, a sharp knife, and a curved bladed knife (a hook knife). And from those simple tools, you can make endless possibilities of useful, lasting, and beautiful objects. Maybe even gain some peace of mind.

Swedish musician Martin Molin has taken an open-source approach to his project, Marble machine 2000. Everything Martin develops comes from a place of: "Here is the problem" and "How do we fix it?" Those ideas can be a mash-up of ideas submitted by fans of this project. No matter the solution, ideas, drawings, assembly are all there for everyone to view and access.

When I think about the times when I most enjoyed the experience of a man-made garden, it leads me to the work of Piet Oudolf. His work has helped me better understand the landscape I enjoy, and I believe it will help me achieve the look and feel I am searching for. He speaks of landscape design in more architectural terms and focuses on the more structural elements of the plants instead of color. Because of my architecture background, that makes more sense to me.

Rhythm, texture, harmony, proportion, dynamics, and articulation. All words used to describe music. And also all words used to describe architecture.

"Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music." 

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Dutch tool chest came from the 18th century. In the Netherlands, the chest was used by shipwrights. Easily portable to move around the job site, and the slanted top protected the tools from the rain. The chest is dovetailed at the bottom to take the weight. The division between the top and bottom compartment is set in a dado on the sides and nailed outside.

Sam Maloof is a self-taught woodworker. He started his woodworking career in 1948 out of necessity at age 32. As newlyweds, they didn't have the money to furnish their home, so he designed and built tables and benches from discarded fir plywood and oak shipping crates. He was asked by friends to make pieces for their house, and it soon became a business.

Slöjd is derived from the stem slög, meaning ingenious, clever, and artful. Swedish woodworker Jögge Sundqvist has an expression from his home county, Västerbotten, is to say Int’ oslög, “not uncrafty.” Referring to one who is handy and practical.

We all use our hands, but in this job, and our work outside of the studio, we tend to use our hands in more strenuous ways. This strain not only applies to hand tool work but also while working at the computer. I have found some common techniques that can help ease pain and improve strength and mobility.

H.O. Studley had the ability to make this cabinet any way he wanted. It could have been a simple box with rudimentary ways of holding tools. He chose to make it to the very best of his ability.